GOD SEES AND KNOWS

2 Samuel 11:1-5, 27
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust.

David and Bathsheba

1 In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem.

2 Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. 3 He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. She had just completed the purification rites after having her menstrual period. Then she returned home. 5 Later, when Bathsheba discovered that she was pregnant, she sent David a message, saying, “I’m pregnant.”

27 When the period of mourning was over, David sent for her and brought her to the palace, and she became one of his wives. Then she gave birth to a son. But the Lord was displeased with what David had done.


It would seem that David did not care who knew about his sin of adultery and murder. He used palace messengers to get Bathsheba. He involved his military leader, Joab, in his murder plot. He moved the soldier’s pregnant widow into the palace.

While it appears that David was not accountable for his actions to those around him, he was accountable to God. And the Word says, “…the Lord was displeased with what David had done.”

Accountability will harness sin. Do you have someone to whom you are accountable for your private and professional life?